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It had been a surprise to everyone except themselves that they would be so drift compatible.
Their friendship had been one that was more secret than anything else. The day that they'd met, there was an unspoken agreement between them to nor reveal their friendship to anyone, so when they had passed the compatibility test with near perfect marks to - for - each other, it had caused quite a commotion.
"Ren," Masato called, pulling his sweater on. "Come on, there's been an attack. We're being dispatched along with 4 others." When he didn't receive an answer, he sighed and threw the covers of Ren's bed, only to find it empty. Blinking in surprise, Masato turned around to a kiss on the back of his neck.
"I was awake when the alarm went off," Ren gave as an explanation, already dressed and combta ready. He gestured towards the bathroom. "Go ahead. I'll wait for you."
Masato knew that it meant when Ren said he had been awake; Ren had had a nightmare. While Masato would normally ask him if he was okay, now they had a kaijuu attack on their hands, so he gave Ren a quick squeeze before running to get prepared.
When they walked towards their Jaeger to get suited up, Ren sent Masato a grin. "You're worried. I can tell, you know. I'm okay; It was just another recurring nightmare." The silent look he received in return made him laugh, patting his lover on the head.
"Knighted Devil," The Marshall's voice sounded, "Melodic Crystal, Sirius Wing. Your orders are to hold the miracle mile. There are 2 Category 3s and 1 Category 4. Devil, you'll take the Cat. 4."
"Yes, boss," Ren replied through the intercom, stepping into position and strapping in. He turned to Masato as the neural bridge was activated, and the memories flower over him, those that were his and those that were not, he lived through them all.
"Left hemisphere; calibrated. Right hemisphere; calibrated," Came the robotic voice of the main cockpit of Knighted Devil. "Systems activated, operating at 100%. Ready for combat."
They didn't say anything - they didn't have to - as they started to move, stepping forward along with the two other Jaegers with them, turning their lights on to scan the surroundings. "Infrared sigh, activate," Masato commanded, and the radar came on, along with an additional image of infrared view that settled itself to the right of their normal view.
"Category 3 incoming, attack path towards Sirius Wing. 2 more kaijuu signals rising," Came the voice of their strategist, and Ren smirked. So the Little Lamb was in charge this time? That usually signaled danger, but there was no fear in the neural bridge. "Knighted Devil, engage the Category 4; Codename Speartail. Brace for attack in 3, 2, 1!"
The attack hit, and they were thrown back despite having braced themselves. Snapping out their sword and plasma cannon respectively, Ren grinned. "Come on, Masato. We have ass to kick."
"Jinguji Ren, you are getting yourself into the infirmary right now, or so help me, I am dragging you there by the hair," Comes the threat that the Shatterdome is very used to hearing. It happens every time Knighted Devil goes on a mission and they come back - and with the 100% kill rate, they've never not returned unharmed.
As it was, all 3 pairs sent out to guard the miracle mile two hours ago had come back, in various states of injury. While Knighted Devil was the most experienced - as well as being the pair with the strongest neural link - they were also the ones facing off with a Category 4, and they had come back with more injuries than Melodic Crystal and Sirius Wing.
There was a sound of annoyance, and a few more arguments before both the Knighted Devil pilots sat themselves rather reluctantly in the infirmary, waiting to be patched up. It wasn't rare that they were both two proud to sit themselves and wait patiently for the medic to treat them.
The medic took one look at them, rolled his eyes, and then started to treat them.
"You were hurt more badly than I was," Ren caved in and said, turning to Masato when they finally got back to their shared room. "And, yes, I know you're going to tell me that I was losing blood, but you know that I'd rather you have gone to the infirmary first."
There was silence before a sigh, and Masato stopped fiddling with his items and turned to face his lover as well, moving forward. His fingers lightly traced the gash on Ren's forearm, eyes downcast and concerned. It had been his fault that the wound was there in the first place - not having reacted quickly enough when the kaijuu had latched itself onto Ren's side of the Jaeger - and he didn't want Ren to be in anymore pain than he had to.
Because of him.
"You know why I wanted you to get treated first," Masato whispered, his voice low with guilt. "I was careless."
He heard his lover heave a sigh almost identical to his before a gentle hand was laid on his cheek, tilting his head up. "And you know that I don't blame you, and never will. I don't care that you were careless, because all that mattered to me was that you were more injured than I was."
Quickly wrapping his uninjured arm around Masato, Ren brought the other close to his chest, burying his nose into midnight blue strands. "I know we have this conversation after every battle, but please, Masato. Becoming pilots was what we chose together, and we both know the dangers. Please stop blaming yourself."
Lower lip trembling, Masato gasped and brought both arms up to circle Ren's shoulders, carefully minding the bandaged arm. Nodding his acknowledgment of Ren's words, he told himself it - they - would be okay as long as they were both alive, as long as they still had each other.